How To Use iPhone 7 Plus Portrait Mode For Best Results

The phenomenal success of Apple’s iPhone camera is due in no small part to its simple, reliable point-and-shoot design, but the extra complexity of the new iPhone 7 Plus can demand a little more thought in order to get the best results.

In ‘Portrait Mode’, the phone combines the output of both camera modules to produce DSLR-like shots with softly blurred backgrounds and subject details that really pop.

In providing such a tool, Apple is moving beyond ‘It just works’ and giving the user flexible creative options which can produce great results, but require decisions to be made.

You don’t need to be a skilled photographer to use Portrait Mode, but you may need to start to think in new ways when composing your image if you’re going to get the best out of it.

Thankfully, Apple has shared some pro tips on how to get the best out of Portrait Mode, sharing insights from professional photographers on how they use the iPhone 7 Plus to get the look they want.

Lifestyle photographer JerSean Golatt, emphasises getting “up close to your subject to bring out the details”, while praising the relative low cost and speed of the iPhone as compared to a professional camera.

Celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart showcases this picture of his son. He recommends you “cut out the distractions from your subject” and “try to find the shade and put the sun behind your subject as a nice back light”. By using these techniques he has made the background almost melt away, not only by using the blurring effect of Portrait Mode but by setting the exposure on the boy, causing the background to ‘overexpose’ and fade towards white. The result is a portrait which would normally require a camera with a telephoto lens and a reasonably wide aperture.

Photo by travel photographer @pketron, shot on iPhone 7 Plus.

This animal portrait by travel photographer Pei Ketron, is a great example of how Portrait Mode can isolate the subject and focus our attention on the dog’s face. She recommends having some treats ready to get the dog’s attention as the telephoto lens will force you to stand around eight feet away to frame the shot.

Few professional photographers would attempt to shoot a wedding using just an iPhone, but wedding photographer Benj Haisch captured this shot with an iPhone 7 Plus, using professional apps Filmborn and Adobe Lightroom mobile to create the final look. He says, “having soft, diffused lighting will help with keeping the photo flattering to your subject. Find a space that isn't too busy or distracting, as Portrait mode will create a photo that really pops."

Portrait Mode may be an artificial effect, but using it involves the same creative thought process as shooting with a DSLR and, in my opinion, the creative intent of the photographer is every bit as important as how the final result was produced.

Forcing the user to actually think about modes and settings while composing a shot may seem like the very antithesis of ‘It just works’, but serious photographers use smartphone cameras too and the iPhone 7 Plus is increasingly close to bridging the gap between the phone and a dedicated camera.

With superb, if perhaps not the very best, image quality now available from an iPhone, many smartphone photographers seem unable to grasp why a dedicated camera should even exist in 2016, but Portrait Mode is exactly the sort of feature needed to set them off down the road into more creative photography - which may or may not result in them buying a ‘proper’ camera.

I’ve worked as a technology journalist since the early nineties. My passion is photography and the ever-changing hardware and software that creates it, be it traditional cameras and Photoshop or smartphones and tablets with their numerous apps.